The Life We Are Given: A Long-Term Program for Realizing the Potential of Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul

If you really want a method that will lhelp you make changes to yourself and in your life, this book will point the way. After reading this book, and following the ITP as set forth in it, at the age of 60 I began running and 6 months later completed a marathon as my first road race (in the middle of my age group). I'm now 65 and have consistently followed the Integral Transformative Practice outlined in the book to work at making myself a healthier, more creative, loving, and wiser person. Be aware, however, that the ITP is WORK--but the method is highly effective.

A wonderfully-written, powerful approach to self-realization. Two main resources have been helping me transform my consciousness and habits into a life of fullness and joy: this book and Pema Chodron's audiotape series, "Awakening Compassion." I recommend both unhesitatingly.

People have been writing manuals for transformation for millenia. One only needs to pick up a copy of the Dhammapada or the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali to find instructions for self-transformation that go back as far as civilized man. A trip to the bookstore can show you that this certainly hasn't changed- self-help books on the shelves today range from the practical ("Achieve Optimal Health in Eight Weeks!") to the unlikely ("Pick Winning Lotto Numbers Every Time!") to the downright wacky ("Awaken your Gerbil's Psychic Powers!"). Many of these books promise change and transformation in a short period of time... a few days or weeks. Instant enlightenment.Michael Murphy and George Leonard have been watching and inspiring the human potential movement (the fountainhead for the "instant enlightenment" approach) for decades- in fact, they gave the movement it's name. And, in the four decades that have passed since Murphy founded his world-famous Esalen Institute, they've learned an important lesson: there is no quick fix. No instant moksha, no express nirvana, no overnight transformation. Real change takes years or decades of intensive work. To this end, they have founded a new kind of practice for a real new age: Integral Transformational Practice, or ITP- which is introduced in "The Life We Are Given".ITP is not a seminar, it's not a weekend retreat. You have to be willing to give up, evolve, and let the chips fall where they may. Moreover, you have to be willing to engage in intensive practice over long periods of time- years, at least. Combining a set of physical exercises based upon akaido, tai chi, and yoga, an aerobic and weightlifting regimen, a simple vegetarian diet, meditation, affirmations, visualization, philosophical and spiritual study, and community work, ITP practitioners can make changes in their lives that they never thought possible. Physical changes, improvements in health and fitness, reversing diseases and age-related ailments, improving emotional health and learning ability, and attaining spiritual states of mind are all possible for a practitioner who is willing to work dilligently and intelligently at the practice. Whole new worlds of opportunity are availiable by living the balanced yet aggressively evolutionary lifestyle proposed in "The Life We Are Given".Recommended as companion volumes to tLwaG are Ken Wilber's "Sex, Ecology, Spirituality" (an important text on evolutionary psychology and philosophy with a focus on transformation), George Leonard's "Mastery", and Michael Murphy's "The Future of the Body". They are all excellent guides to the integral paradigm.Good luck, and good journeys!

Mahatma Gandhi said that we must be the change we wish to see in the world. Through the Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) set forth in this 221-page handbook, George Leonard and Michael Murphy show us how to change the world by first changing our own hearts (p. 194). Leonard is a founder of the Human Potential Movement. Murphy is a founder of the Esalen Institute. Together they have created a lifelong program in THE LIFE WE ARE GIVEN leading to the transformation of body, mind, heart and spirit.This is by no means a quick-fix, self-help book. Most of us realize only a small part of our human potential, and as a result we live only a fraction of the life we are given (p. 170). Not surprisingly, in our fast-paced culture, we turn to quick-fix programs, "crash" diets, weekend workshops, and audiotapes in our quest for self-knowledge and spiritual awakening (p. 27), rather than making a longterm commitment to strive for our highest potentials. Leonard and Murphy show that it is only through a lifelong practice of affirmations (pp. 53-72), Japanese "kata" (pp. 73-106), meditation (pp. 107-116), exercise (pp. 117-131), and nutrition (pp. 133-143) that we are able to realize our true potential for an extraordinary life. "How do you become more intellectually interested and focused? Practice. How do you become a more loving, caring, emotionally expressive person? Practice. How do you develop a sense of community and social service? Practice" (p. 45). The practices they offer here are also easy to integrate into the current American lifestyle ("the householder's path").For anyone interested in stepping onto the path of self improvement, skip the multitude of self-help-quick-weight-loss books promising overnight results, and invest your time and money in this handbook instead, and then practice.G. Merritt

The techniques and philosphy found in the Life We Are Given are simple, challenging and profound. After reading the book I was priviliged to join in the practice described in detail in the book with one of the authors, George Leonard at the Aikido Dojo he cofounded in Mill Valley. If you are serious about integrating spirit,mind and body while you are at work in our hyped up society, you will find this book to be invaluable.It is all about being purposeful in your personal growth. Leonard has created a video tape that makes the practice ( a combination of aikido, yoga, meditation, guided imagery)easy to learn and make your own. Now in his 70s, Leonard and his co author Murphy continue to be pioneers and leaders in helping people realize their full human potential.